Eddie Redmayne is in Twitter’s crosshairs after saying on the BAFTAS red carpet that his film, The Danish Girl, is responsible for the rise of trans awareness around the world. Redmayne has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for this role.

According to the BBC, this is what Redmayne said:

Eddie Redmayne: "It's extraordinary how trans issues have come into the mainstream media since we made Danish Girl" pic.twitter.com/Zsm1vHiMS8

According to Mic, The Danish Girl is about Lili Elbe, one of the first transgender women to go through “transition related surgery.” One could certainly argue that she’s a pioneer for the transgender community in becoming more visible, but it’s harder to make the case that this movie about her has pioneered trans awareness. At the very least, I can think of Laverne Cox, Transparent, and Janet Mock as having done that beforehand. And of course, there are many non famous trans activists that have brought this issue to the forefront recently, at great risk to their own lives.

People on Twitter also think that Redmayne’s statement is far off base.

The Danish Girl has merely $44-million worldwide at the box office.
Virtually no ‘mainstream’ audiences have seen that movie. It has made but maybe a squeak in world of Trans rights or awareness.

And, no – The Kardasians did not ‘start it’. You can go back to the mid-1970s for the first internationally VERY FAMOUS trans woman Renee Richards who was high profile pro tennis player.
And there have been many others more recently yet before Caitlyn Jenner – Though she did cause a big spike in awareness; I will give her that.

Call me crazy, but there isn’t any part of that quote where he says “Danish Girl” is directly responsible for a rise in trans awareness. All Redmayne actually says is that trans issues has come into the mainstream since the movie was made.